Those Who Know Best
by luvin-benadam
Summary: It's been nearly six months since Elliot left SVU and Olivia. What happenes when Olivia gets too close to a case and goes missing? The squad must call upon the person who knows her best to help find her: her ex-partner.
1. Chapter 1

He hadn't felt this alive in months. The adrenaline, he had all but forgotten how addicting it felt. But the fear that coincided with it was suffocating. There was only one thing he cared about at that moment, and it was getting her back breathing, alive, safe. The frenzied sounds around him seemed to belong somewhere else, another life, another man's problem, the only sound that resonated in his mind was her voice; strong, confidant, the way he remembered. It had been far too long since he had heard that voice. The metal of the gun felt soothing in his hands, comforting like an old friend, the safety and fear of being behind its protection brought out a longing he didn't realize he still had. His finger twitched against the trigger, itching to pull it, to fire it, to cause pain to the one who was causing his own torture. He would have to wait; wait until he found her, held her, and reassured the dwindling hope in his body that she was alright.

Looking back, he had no idea what had allowed him to live without her these past few months. And a nagging voice in his head told him that the reason they had been partners all that time was that he couldn't stand not knowing if she were safe or not. That and he didn't trust anyone else to look out for her.

An anxious voice ran out from above the bang of opening doors. "I found her! She's in here!"

He pushed past the others, running forwards towards the door they were gathered around, and threw himself past everyone. Her body met his eyes, mangled in a heap on the concrete floor, a pool of blood surrounding her.

"No," he felt the word leave his body without consciously thinking it. "God Liv, no."

He knelt next to her, tears clouding his vision, arms cradling her broken body to his. Another set of fingers reached out and prodded the tender skin of her neck. "She's still alive! Somebody call a bus!"

His blue eyes traced the cuts across her face, the bruises encircling her neck, the familiar necklaces that hung there. But something was different. There was a third chain, longer than the others, its pendant tucked into her dirt covered shirt. He tugged gently on the chain and a familiar sight met his eyes; His Semper Fi medallion. Sorrow threatened to engulf him. He wondered if she wore it every day, close to her heart, as the only way of keeping him close to her anymore. If he hadn't abandoned her, none of this would have ever happened. Cragen was across from him now, hands staunching the bleeding from her abdomen, terror in his eyes.

"Please Liv, please wake up," Elliot pleaded.

Her eyes remained firmly closed against the grey skin of her face.

"Liv." Her name felt good on his lips. It had been too long since he had said it. "Please Olivia, please," he whispered into her hair.

But her cold body was far from reassuring and Elliot Stabler could feel the last of his illusive hope leaving him.

One Week Earlier

"Benson," his voice rang out like a shotgun through the silence. "My office, now."

She was no stranger to that tone. Feigning innocence, she shrugged at her colleagues who were raising their eyebrows and followed Cragen into his office.

"Sit."

She did as she was told and took a seat opposite his desk.

"Care to tell me what the hell his is about?" He slammed the papers down onto the open desk in front of her.

Hesitantly, she picked it up. Before she could read enough to grasp what it was, he told her.

"This is a complaint report 1PP just sent over to me. Care to explain to me why the hell a civilian is claiming a lawsuit for police brutality against you Benson?"

"Captain this is not a civilian! He's a perp!"

"Then why the hell isn't he in custody?" The captain sighed and ran his fingers over his head.

"Because the DA refuses to prosecute him!" Her tone was defensive.

"The DA won't prosecute because what little evidence you have on him is circumstantial! There's no way she can win this case Olivia. And that is not her fault!" He sighed and finally sat in the chair facing her. "You cannot take justice into your own hands when the law falls through. You beat this man so badly he has a concussion. This is unacceptable."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "So what, you're firing me?"

His eyes narrowed. "No. But you're on leave starting right now."

Defiance crossed her pretty face and she bit her lip to hold back her retort. He stared benignly back, infuriating her further. Without another word, she stormed from the room and back to her desk, head cradled in her hands, willing her anger and sadness to abate.

"Liv?"

She looked up into the concerned face of Fin who had taken the seat next to her desk, gentle eyes silently asking questions she didn't want to answer.

" He did it Fin. I know that we don't have enough evidence to convict Aaron Miller, but I'll be damned if we let his guy get away with raping and murdering three little girls."

Fin sighed, he could see the defeat written all over his co-workers face. "I know Liv. I know. And we'll get the guy, we just have to wait until he slips up."

"Which means waiting until he rapes, tortures and kills another innocent little girl!" Her voice rose in exasperation. "How screwed up is that?" She paused and rubbed her fingers across her aching temples. "Cragen says I'm on leave. I'm not to work the case."

Fin remained silent for a second while he took in the news. "Maybe it's for the best, you know? This humps got a hard on for you Olivia. Maybe some space from this case will allow you to clear your head a little."

A sigh escaped her lips. She knew he was right but didn't want to admit it. "I'm going home." She rose from her chair and tossed her coat over her shoulders, gathering her file folders into her arms.

"Want a ride home?"

She shook her head. "No." It came across rude. "Thanks, but I think the fresh air will help," she added. She turned her back to him and made it almost as far as the precinct doors before he called out to her.

"Hey Liv!"

She spun to face him.

"Just promise me you won't do anything stupid, okay?"

A brief smile crossed her features and she turned back towards the door without a word.


	2. Chapter 2

No matter what she did, she couldn't seem to escape his wrath. Even from the safety of her home, she could see his face, sneering at her, a gloating expression written into the smug lines around his mouth and eyes. He thought he had won. Well she would be damned if she let the son-of-a-bitch get away with murder. His victims had been the most innocent of human beings to pick from; sweet, faultless little girls with their whole lives ahead of them. Until his hands found their way around their little necks and strangled the life out of them. Olivia didn't know if she had ever felt hatred this strong. At the very least, it had been awhile.

From her spot at her kitchen table, her stomach growled loudly. A glance at the clock informed her that it was just past midnight. She had left work hours ago yet work had not left her. Cragen had removed her from the case but she had taken all her paperwork and notes home with her. Just because she had let her temper get the best of her for a split second, didn't mean she was going to let him get away with murder. After slaughtering three little girls, the very least the hump deserved was a solid pop in the mouth. He was milking the concussion; she hadn't hit him that hard.

Grotesque images were still swimming in her head, cancelling out her hunger, so she rose from her chair and opted for a tea instead. It was nights like these that made her miss Elliot the most. _Elliot. _Even just thinking his name was still painful. It had been nearly six months since she had seen him last and yet the pain of it still stung as if his betrayal had just happened. She didn't understand what she had done to deserve his silence. It was one thing to quit the force, what he went through had been traumatic; but to cut her out of his life completely? Tears stung at her eyes and she angrily brushed them away. If Elliot didn't want to be a part of her life anymore, then fine. She would get over it; eventually.

Standing impatiently in her kitchen while she waited for the kettle to boil, Olivia felt tension and anxiety building rapidly inside her. Her desire to catch Aaron Miller was slowly becoming all-consuming the further he got from being prosecuted. When at last the light on the kettle clicked off, she poured her tea into a travel mug and decided to take a walk to clear her head.

The air outside was crisp and refreshing, a cool late-winter night with clear skies and dazzling lights. One hand clutched her warm mug, the other tucked safely into her jacket pocket. Street after street she roamed, seeking solace around every corner she turned but finding nothing but mostly deserted streets that just increased her feeling of isolation. As she turned another corner just a few blocks from her apartment, another feeling arose in her that hadn't been present during the rest of her walk: unease. Senses flaring as they searched for something that didn't belong, ears picked up on the faint sound of slow footsteps behind her. She kept her pace, chalking her wariness up to stress from the case. But being a cop had taught her not to throw off her instincts when they told her something wasn't right.

To test her theory, she turned down a side street to see if her follower would pursue. Footsteps still sounded from a distance behind. Adrenaline was now pumping full force through her system. Olivia contemplated her options as she turned back onto the more main road and held her cell phone tight in her pocket. She was almost at her street now, but she wouldn't stop at her building until she was sure that no one was following her. Silence now greeted her ears. From the sound of it, whoever had been following her earlier wasn't anymore. She stopped and spun backwards, there was no one. The street and sidewalk were empty, not a soul to be seen. Heart hammering against her ribs, she gingerly walked back a few paces to where she had just left, carefully scanning the basement stairs of the brownstones on the block for any signs of life. She stepped closer to one in particular, thinking she saw a shiver of movement amongst the shadows and peered down into their depths. As her eyes scanned the trash bins at the foot, a swift movement escaped from the dark threw her body to the concrete. Before a scream or murmur could escape her lips, a taser found the tender skin of her neck and Olivia was released into nothingness.

Three Days Later

The station was alive with activity when Nick Amaro entered early Wednesday morning. His first stop was the coffee pot where he poured himself an extra large cup before sitting down at his desk; it had been a long night. Feeling a little more awake with his intake of caffeine, Amaro was slowly arranging his DD5's when Cragen approached his desk.

"Captain," he greeted with a smile.

The returned smile was brief. "How's your partner Amaro? I may have been a little tough on her a few days ago."

Nick swallowed and turned fully to his boss. "To be honest, I don't really know. I texted her once on the day she left and asked how she was, she said she needed some time. I haven't talked to her since."

Cragen's forehead wrinkled in concern. He turned to the facing desks behind him. "Munch, Fin." Their eyes turned up to meet his. "You heard from Benson?"

"Not since Sunday," Munch replied.

"So let me get this straight, no one has heard from Olivia in three days? Well that's just odd. Even when I've suspended her she's always kept in contact to keep informed on the case."

The three detectives and their captain all exchanged a worried glance, most of their anxiety passing unsaid between them.

"Amaro," Cragen said, "Your paperwork can wait. I want you over to Benson's to go check on her."

Nick nodded and immediately rose from his chair, threw his jacket onto his shoulders, and addressed the worried faces looking back at him. "I'll call right after I talk to her," he reassured.

The drive was not a long one and Amaro soon found himself outside Olivia's apartment.

"And who are you here to see?" The doorman asked politely.

"Detective Olivia Benson, I'm her partner, Nick Amaro."

A confused knot stitched itself in between the doorman's eyes. "Detective Benson hasn't been home in a few days."

Nick felt a ball of worry settle itself into his gut. "Did you see her leave? Pack a bag? Get picked up with anyone?"

The doorman shook his head. "She came home from work unusually early on Sunday afternoon, then went out quite late Sunday night, said she was going for a walk, all bundled up and with a tea thermos, you know? My shift ends at one a.m., I just assumed she came home after that, but I haven't seen her since then."

"Do you mind if I go up and check?"

"Be my guest."

Nick knocked for almost ten minutes before he was satisfied that she wasn't home, then proceeded to call her cell phone, which inconveniently went straight to voicemail. He was now beyond worried. Deciding to wait until he had something a little more solid before he informed Cragen, Amaro place a call to TARU. They said they would need a few minutes to track her cell phone and would call him right back. He decided to wander the streets surrounding her building until they did. A few blocks from Benson's, something caught Amaro's eye. A little ways down the road, nestled into the curb, was something shiny that caught his attention. He increased his pace until he crouched over it and the full reality of what it was sunk it. There, cracked as if it had been run over by a car, was a silver thermos travel mug.

As he bent to examine it, his cell phone rang. "Amaro," he answered, heart hammering.

"Nick, this is Morales. We've got a location on Detective Benson's cell phone. I'll send the location on a map to your cell phone."

"Thanks Morales," he said and hung up. A short beep a second later sounded from his phone and he flipped it open to the interactive map. A small red blinking light was flashing from a spot on the map just thirty feet from where he was standing above the discarded travel mug. Terrified, he followed down the road, closer and closer to the blinking dot on the map. The dot belonged to a flower bed outside a well groomed brownstone, and nestled inside a dying garden, was a dark, dirty cell.

Amaro extracted it from the bed and pressed the on button. It was dying, not enough battery for radio use, but enough for him to read the text sprawled out onto the screen.

It read: "Want to know where I am? Ask my partner."

Nick had a nagging feeling that this last cryptic message was not from Olivia.


	3. Chapter 3

"Amaro, tell me what you know so far."

Nick Amaro tried to steady his shaking breath enough to explain a situation he didn't understand to a man he greatly respected. "Not much, Cap. Olivia's doorman hasn't seen her since Sunday when she left to go for a walk. I found her tea thermos on the side of the road about a block and a half down the street from her apartment, DNA just came back as a confirmed match from the saliva on the lid. I have TARU looking into who sent the text but it doesn't look promising, Morales said it was sent from a disposable cell."

"And the blood?"

Nick swallowed. A trace amount of blood had been found smeared across the back of Olivia's phone. "It's Benson's."

Amaro saw his captain literally bite back the curse that left his mouth.

"How much do we like Aaron Miller for this?" Cragen asked the four anxious detectives standing before him.

"I called his lawyer first thing when Amaro got back here; Miller's bail was revoked early Saturday morning when he violated one of his bail conditions, Judge Bartens shipped him back to Elmira to await trail," Fin responded. "Unless Miller organized this from the inside or can be in two places at once, he's not our guy."

"And the text? What do we make of that?"

"Ask my partner?" Munch injected. "Sounds to me like we should be looking back into perps that have had it out for Liv and Amaro lately."

All eyes darted back into Nick's worried face. "The first thing I did when I read that text was ask a uni to pull all cases of mine and Benson's that were flagged as having made threats against either of us. There's six that stood out, but I glanced them over when I got back here, five of the perps are still in jail, one of them is dead. So unless one of them organized something from the inside, I'd have to say that the partner that text is referring to, it's not me."

"Well that certainly complicates things, doesn't it," Munch said.

"Let's not go bothering Stabler in his retirement until we know for sure that we need him," Cragen announced.

"Don't you think he'd want to know that Liv is missing?" Fin asked.

"What he doesn't know won't kill him," Cragen replied. "Munch, take a hike up to Attica, Sing Sing, Elmira, wherever those perps from Amaro's five cases are serving their time. Talk to the wardens, talk to the inmates, see if there's any one of them who might have the brains to pull off something like this."

Munch nodded and hurried away.

"Amaro, I want you back at the scene where you found Liv's phone and mug supervising CSU. You make sure that any spec of dirt that may be a clue is rushed through processing. Rollins, start pulling any of Benson's old cases with Stabler that were flagged for threats, starting with the most recent."

"And me?" Fin asked.

"You're with me."

Cragen led Fin back to his office and closed the door behind them.

"I'm worried, Cap. This isn't like Liv. Something's wrong here."

Cragen sighed, hoping the terror consuming him would abate with the release of this breath, but all it did was tighten the band of tension around his chest.

"I've got all available uni's searching the blocks surrounding her apartment. I notified 1PP as soon as Amaro notified me, half the force is out there looking for her, Fin, we're going to find her."

"With all due respect, Cap, I think we need to bring Stabler in on this. Whoever this guy is, he clearly wants Elliot involved. He might be able to give us insight into whatever is going on better than anyone else. Besides, who knows Liv better than El?"

Cragen's lips tightened into a small line and tired eyes gazed into the face of a trusted mans. Fin could see the anxiety this situation was causing his boss, pulling at every last nerve he had in his body. Fin worried that Cragen's unraveling would likely be tied into the state they found Olivia in.

"We gotta find her, Cap."

Cragen buried his face into the palms of his cool hands, searching for a moment of clarity that would never come. "Go notify Stabler."

EOEOEOEOEO

The rhythmic ticking of the wall clock alerted him to each passing second that he lay awake in bed. Seconds into minutes, minutes into hours, until at last he conceded defeat and left the warmth of his bed to bask in the bulb of his refrigerator light. He wasn't hungry, there was just something comforting about staring into the abyss of the fridge when sleep was evading him.

Elliot Stabler found such monotony in the fact that the hardest decision he made daily was what to pull out of his fridge to eat. A dull ache settled over him as he closed the fridge door with a slice of bread in his hand and made his way to the couch, unconsciously wondering what Olivia was doing in that moment, then hating himself for his curiosity. He had lost all right to think about her when he cut himself out of her life. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't struggle with his decision.

From the front door down the hall, the rap of heavy knuckles sounded. Adreneline instantly spiked through his veins, wondering who would be visiting him at two am on a weekday. Hands instinctively reached for a gun that wasn't there. Elliot felt naked without it. Slowly he crept to the door as the visitor knocked again. Checking to make sure the deadbolt was securely in place, Stabler closed one eye and peered through the peekhole into a very unlikely face.

He slid the lock from its holster and opened the door. "Fin?" His surprised was evident in his voice. "What are you doing here?"

The man looking back at Stabler had aged many years in the short time it had been since he'd seen him last. Stress and worry had permanently etched themselves into the lines of his face. And with one simple sentence he turned Elliot's world sideways.

"Liv's missing. We need your help."


	4. Chapter 4

The innate stubbornness of Elliot's nature refused to process the incomprehensible words from Fin's mouth.

"What?" It was teh only word he could find to convey his utter disbelief. "What are you talking about, Fin?"

"Look I wouldn't be here if I had any other choice but Olivia is missing. No one has seen her in three days. We need your help, El."

Terror seized him, locking his breath into his lungs and refusing the ability to take a new, steadying breath. His partner, his rock, the only person he had ever been able to talk to about absolutely anything with, was missing. Guilt choked him.

"What happened?" Elliot asked, grabbing his jacket from the coat rack next to the door.

"I'll explain on the way."

EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

A rush of nostalgia and dread hit Elliot with a force as he walked back into the precinct for the first time in nearly half a year. He was astounded by how much nothing had changed. He felt like an entirely different person yet in his absence, the one-six had stayed entirely the same. His eyes were drawn to her desk, in the exact spot it had been when it had faced his, exactly as she had left it the last time she'd been there.

Cragen's face was waiting for him, anxious and expectant, holding onto the innate hope that Stabler held all the answers for them.

"Welcome back," he greeted.

"I would say it's good to be back but under the circumstances..." The rest of his sentence hung in the palpable tension between them.

Cragen nodded and let out a heavy sigh. "Let's go talk in my office."

"What happened?" The question was out of Elliot's mouth before they had even taken their seats.

"We don't have very much information," Cragen said sadly. "Last anyone saw her was her doorman late Sunday night when she went for a walk. By Wednesday when no one had heard from her I sent her new parter Amaro over to check on her."

Elliot was surprised by the force of emotion that shot through him at the mention of Olivia's new partner. He could only describe it as pure and unadultered jealousy.

"And?" Elliot prompted.

"When Amaro couldn't get ahold of her he did a perimiter check while TARU ran a trace on her cell. A block and a half from her apartment building Amaro found her tea thermos, saliva confirmed it was hers, and her cell was found in a flower bed further down the same street. Whoever it was that took her, they left a message."

Elliot's heartbeat quickened. "What kind of message?"

Cragen lifted the familar phone from a sealed plastic bag, found the text, and showed it to Elliot.

"Ask my partner? Why would you think this has something to do with me?" He asked defensively.

"We've been over her cases with Amaro, nothing fits. The only other partner she's ever had is you."

Stabler took a moment to breathe in all this new information. His mind was swirling with all the possibilites and he had to bite back the bile that threatened to rise from his throat when he contempted all of the terrible things that could be happening to her. He closed his eyes and tried to see clarity but all he could see was Olivia in pain.

"What is it that you think I can do?" He asked finally.

"We have Detective Rollins pulling all your and Liv's old case files that were flagged for making threats. I want you to help her and think back to anything that stands out, anyone that might have had a reason to take her."

"You're kidding me right?" Elliot burst out. "You want me to go through thirteen years worth of cases I have with Benson and go through every single god damn one that wanted a piece of us!"

"Hey!" Cragen shouted. "If you want to walk out that door right now then go ahead. You go ahead and tell us that those thirteen years meant dick to you and that you couldn't care less about what happens to Olivia. Go. Leave. If that's how you feel then we're better off here without you."

Stabler sat quietly in his chair and released the angry breath of air he was holding.

"That's what I thought," Cragen snapped.

"What do you want me to do?"

Cragen tossed a pad of paper and a pen into his lap. "Start writing."

EOEOEOEOEOEO

From somewhere above her a faint breeze of strangely warm air tickled at her skin and stirred her from the sweet release of sleep that had taken her. She felt heavy, weighed down like her body would sink right through the chair she was sitting in and onto the floor. Her eyelids blinked rapidly, begging for the release of the spell of drugs that were swirling her in a haze of confusion and pain. Olivia Benson took several deep breaths in an effort to orientate herself. Slowly she wiggled a finger and tried to raise her hand to her face where an itchy line of something once liquid had dried in a crusty trail against the side of her face. Something stopped her, a rough binding of rope wrapped in loops around her wrist tied her to the chair she was sitting it.

The surroundings spun around her in dizzying circles and threatened to make her sick. She tried the other hand, tied, as well as both of her feet. Sheer terror seized her. She was completely vulnerable and at the mercy of the person who had brought her here. She remembered nothing. Going for a walk, waking up here. No name, no face, no details about how she got here, where she was, how she planned on making it out of here alive. Hopelessness gripped her to her core.

"It's going to be okay," she whispered reassuringly to herself. "Everything is going to be okay."

Silence greeted her ears for more than a minute before a voice rang out from the corner of the dark room. One simple sentence that stole the last of hope from her body. "No it's not."


End file.
